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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28890822">I'm Sorry, Where Are You?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/classicecilia/pseuds/classicecilia'>classicecilia</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ejen Ali (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Bullying, Car Accidents, Coping, Drama, Dysfunctional Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Issues, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Interacial Marriage, Tragedy, mixed marriage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:01:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>20,022</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28890822</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/classicecilia/pseuds/classicecilia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after Misi: Tujuan, in which agent Zain didn't come to see Ali<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>After being suspected of abusing IRIS, Ali had lose hope in becoming an agent and disappeared the day after. Upon discovering this, Alicia was tasked to find Ali as he's the only one who can use IRIS with the decision to give him a second chance. However, there's a problem that she encountered; not only Ali is missing, but the house where he lived with his father was vacant, now occupied by a different family. Alicia made it her main mission to find him while ended up entangling herself deeper into secrets of Ali's family...and learned what happened to him.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>NO PAIRING | CROSSOVER A BIT WITH BOBOIBOY</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. I want to go home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello everyone! Welcome to my Ao3 account!</p><p>I actually wrote this book in my Wattpad account but I decided to also share it here on Ao3! I really like this platform, so I though it's a great place to share. Hope you enjoy! For new readers that is haha</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"Since all you do is blaming IRIS, then it's better if you don't become an agent!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Don't you know how humiliated I was?! I feel like a failure because of you!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Why don't you just blame your cat instead? Hahahahaha."</em>
</p><p>Those same exact thoughts kept on repeating in Ali's head as he found himself standing in front of the two two large doors belonging to the academy. In all honesty, he was contemplating not to come but he has training to do, so there's no escape to this whether he wanted to or not. </p><p>With a deep breath, Ali slowly made his way inside with his heart full of hope that maybe, just maybe, he can fix his mistakes. </p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>It didn't go well.</p><p>He attempted to apologize while struggling to explain himself, only to get interrupted by the other agents. They made it clear that he's wasting his time. And definitely they want nothing to do with him. Heck, even his own family member turned his back.</p><p>Silently, Ali walked back home after training, his voice soft as he opened the door with a greeting. It was empty. As always. With a slump of his shoulders, Ali made his way to his room to shower and that night, he just sat in the living room with a blank stare; his homework and dinner laid untouched right in front of him. His actions made his father looked at him in worry. He's done nothing except to pray. He didn't even bother to play games on his tablet! </p><p>This is not his son, Dr. Ghazali thought. </p><p>Gently, Ghazali sat down next to him and put his hand on his shoulder. The boy responded by leaning against it, but his blank stare remained. "Ali?" he called out gently, "is everything okay? Are you sick? You've been like this since I've arrived home."</p><p>No response. So he tried again. "Ali, you're worrying me...please, talk to me. I want to help you but I can't do anything if you remain silent."</p><p>At that moment, a tear slowly rolled down his cheek. And another. And another. From a tear to crying river and before long, the boy started sobbing with Ghazali slowly putting his arms around him, pulling him close. Ali pushed his face against his father as he sobbed hard, letting out all the hurt and pain that he kept within himself for the past year. He couldn't stop. <em>He couldn't.</em></p><p>"I want to go home," he whispered. "I can't stay here...I <em>don't </em>want to stay here...I want to go home..."</p><p>Ghazali ran his hand through Ali's hair in a soothing motion. "Deep breath, Ali. Deep breath...I'll get it done. I promise."</p><p>"What about scho-"</p><p>"You don't have to go," the man interrupted before his son can continue with the question. "I will pull you out of school tomorrow and you can pack early. We'll make it work."</p><p>Ali said nothing, but gave a nod. The sobbing lessened but he sniffed a bit while hugging his father tighter. He didn't know when was the last time he hugged him, but never mind that; what matters was that his father is here with him for him to get everything out of his chest. </p><p>"We'll move out soon," Ghazali continued. "I know you're not happy in school, so I'd thought of moving out sooner."</p><p>"It's fine," he muttered. His father isn't wrong; he <em>is</em> miserable in that school. Many times he was scolded for his bad grades; he got the last place in his class and barely passed his exams. The fact that his tormentors made it their goal to bully didn't make things better. At that moment, Ali didn't know who to approach. He couldn't bring himself to tell his only friend, Viktor of his struggles and Ali knew he couldn't go to his father because of his busy schedule. Ali knew that he had <em>no one. </em></p><p>"How about you call Viktor tonight?" Ghazali suggested as they pulled apart. Ali's eyes are still swollen from crying, but overall better. "Let him know that you're not going to school tomorrow and play games. I'll handle the rest."</p><p>With a soft voice, Ali replied, "Okay," and went to get his tablet. Ghazali left to his office and Ali video called Viktor, now remembered that he had promised him to play <em>Detective Jebat</em> before bed time.</p><p>"By the way," Ali said, his eyes glued to the game. "I'm not going to school tomorrow."</p><p>By the corner of his eyes, Ali can see Viktor giving a look of confusion through the small screen on his tablet. "Eh, why?"</p><p>"My dad is pulling me out," Ali said simply. "And we're moving out of Cyberaya soon."</p><p>Viktor paused for a moment and Ali took advantage of the situation, quickly defeating his opponent. Ali would've celebrate if it wasn't for Viktor being quiet, which to him, is rather unusual.</p><p>Viktor finally asked, "When are you moving?"</p><p>Ali thought for a moment before answering, "next week at most."</p><p>More silence ensued. The next words that came out of Viktor's mouth, his voice strained small, almost a whisper, broke Ali's heart, "why...? And where?"</p><p>Those words shattered him. He knew that the decision to leave Cyberaya is drastic, but by all means, necessary. All memories he has of here are mostly pain. He couldn't stand it.</p><p>With a strained voice as similar to Viktor, he said one word.</p><p>"...Home."<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>On the other side of the city, a familiar girl with black hair and green headband felt a shiver down her spine, placing a hand against her chest to calm speeding heart as an image of a boy flashed in her mind.</p><p>"Ali?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Where is Ali?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alicia received a letter and was alarmed that Ali was not in school.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Alicia entered her first class of the day, the first thing she saw was a sealed letter with a neat handwriting written on the front, addressing to her in full name, on her desk. Within the six years of attending this school, six years of Valentine's day, and six years of no letters nor gifts whatsoever. She didn't mind for the least; they're not important anyway.</p><p>So for her to get a letter, out of the blue with no special occasion, was strange to say the least.</p><p>Cautiously, she picked the letter up to ensure that it's safe before fully held it with both hands. Her eyes squinted at the neat, cursive handwriting written on the smooth surface of the letter, all the while thinking whose handwriting could be this neat in her class. It was unrecognizable; none of her classmates have this handwriting and she was known to be the one with the neatest handwriting ever. Also, another thought came to her; who even used letters today? </p><p>The bell rang, indicating that students should be in class by now. With a shrug, Alicia slipped the letter into the pocket of her bag with a reminder to read it later on her free time. She sat down as other students settled in their sit before their teacher of the first subject entered. Class began and Alicia was waiting the moment for a familiar, dark-haired boy to sneak into the class to the seat in front of her in order to avoid being punished for his tardiness. Like he usually do. </p><p>Except that the said boy didn't come to class. At all. Only his best friend, Viktor, came to class but no trace of him.</p><p>Immediately, Alicia was alarmed. Ali, no matter how late he is to school, never miss class. He rarely gets sick and will always be in school, no matter the circumstances. So the fact that he's not here today, is alarming because she knew; that's not him. Ali would always come to school, if not to improve himself which is a likelihood, but to attend their so-called 'stamp meeting' aka agent training at the academy. That's his favourite part. </p><p>So why is he not here? For the first time, Alicia doesn't think it make sense to her.</p><p>A bell rang, ending the class and the recess start. Alicia immediately used this time to approach Viktor who, being a game nerd he is, immersing himself with his favourite game in his tablet, his tongue stuck out unconsciously as he concentrated on the fight. Honestly, she would've tell him to stop spend so much with video games and focus more on studying if he wasn't one of the top student in the class after her. In other words, he's smart despite being a complete gamer. </p><p>Alicia stood in front of him but Viktor made no move to indicate that he noticed her. Knowing that waiting for him to see her will waste the precious time she has, Alicia loudly cleared her throat, finally catching Viktor's attention and he looked up from his game. His eyes widened at the realisation of who is standing in front of him, and quickly, he paused the game before looking at her as she sat down on a seat across him. Alicia was thinking of a way to start the conversation before Viktor spoke up.</p><p>"Yes?" he asked after a few moments of silence. "May I help you with something?"</p><p>'Screw it,' Alicia thought and decided to cut to the chase. "Where's Ali?" she asked, inwardly wincing at her tone as it sounded more of a demand than a question. </p><p>"Ali?" he repeated, his squinting in confusion. Did he heard it right? "You mean the Ali? As in my best friend?"</p><p>Alicia looked at him with annoyance. "Do I know any other Ali?" Alicia answered sarcastically. "Of course I mean Ali as in your best friend."</p><p>"W-Well," Victor stuttered a bit. That's another sign, Alicia noted; Victor <em>never </em>stutter. Something is really wrong here.</p><p>Viktor was taken back by her harsh tone and stuttered, "W-Well..." and Alicia silently noted that as another sign; Viktor <em>never </em>stutters, not even when he has to talk to her directly. She knew that something is definitely wrong here. </p><p>"Tell me," she demanded.</p><p>She leaned closer against the table and demanded, "Tell me."</p><p>"Hesnotinschool," Victor answered quickly. At Alisha's look, he slowed down, "He's not in school."</p><p>So he's not in school at all today, Alicia thought. "Do you know why he didn't come to school today? Is he sick or anything by chance?"</p><p>So he's not in school at all today, she thought. That's strange; why won't he be in school? "Do you by chance know why he didn't come to school, then? Is he sick or something?"</p><p>At that moment, Viktor find himself feeling annoyed at this. Who does she think she is, demanding to know where his best friend is? His eyes narrowed at her and feeling brave, he asked as equally harsh, "why do you need to know?"</p><p>Alicia inwardly groaned. Victor just had to make this harder than she intended. "It's something personal that involved him. So I need to know where he is right now."</p><p>The look and tone of Viktor's made Alicia inwardly groaned. She thought that talking to him wouldn't take this long nor difficult, considering how laid back he is. But alas, she was wrong; of course, life hates her and wanted to make her situation difficult than it already is. With a sigh, Alicia said, "There is something personal that involved, which you have no part of, and it is <em>really </em>important. So I need to know where he is right now."</p><p>There is skeptical look on his face, indicating that he doesn't believe her. Alicia was about to say something when Viktor spoke up, "give me a good reason why I should tell you where he is when all you do is making him miserable."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Comments and kudos are appreciated!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The conversation continues</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alicia attempted to convince Viktor to tell her where Ali is but Viktor remained firm</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alicia was caught off-guard when Viktor asked that question, not expecting him to respond in such a way. She opened her mouth to argue with the intention to force him to reveal Ali's whereabouts, but paused for a moment. Viktor's friendship with Ali is very strong, the opposite of her relations with the latter, so it shouldn't be surprising for her to know how loyal he is to Ali. Hence, forcing an answer out of him won't do anything good and definitely a waste of time. </p><p>She decided to stick to negotiation but Alicia needed the answer, fast, because the mentors will ask her about Ali, no doubt. </p><p>"Okay, look; what happened between Ali and I are personal and I can promise you that it has nothing to do with anyone else. It's only between us," Alicia attempted to explain. Keyword: attempt. "Because what happened is only between us, I can't really tell you about it without his permission because it involves too."</p><p>Alicia can see Viktor almost snorted but he quickly refrained himself from doing so. To her surprise, he retaliated, "don't you think the same can be said with the reason why Ali is not in school right now. The reason why he didn't go to school today is also personal, so I also can't just tell you why he does so without his permission. <em>Because it involves him."</em></p><p>If they weren't in a school setting, Alicia would have cursed out loud; Viktor just used her words against her. Her eyes glanced at the time and nearly cursed upon seeing the time; they're about less than fifteen minutes until recess is over. Dang it, she has to be fast because Alicia knew that this is the only time she can get information out of him, with the assumption that Viktor will avoid her afterwards. How is she going to explain this to the mentors of Ali's sudden disappearance? This is not good...</p><p>Viktor, meanwhile, felt his chest tugged a bit at Alicia's look. Typically, he wouldn't care how she feel but there's something about her facial expression that convinced him a bit. Keyword: a bit.</p><p>Eventually, Viktor decided that Alicia has suffered enough. "You know, come to think of it," he spoke up, snapping Alicia out of her thoughts. "Did you get any letter by chance today?"</p><p>Alicia blinked. "A letter?" she asked, before realising what he meant. "Oh! You mean the letter that was put on my desk this morning? The one with a neat handwriting?"</p><p>Viktor rolled his eyes a bit but nodded nonetheless in confirmation. "Yeah, that one. You kept it safe, did you?"</p><p>The girl nodded, "I already put it in my bag. Were you the one who put it on my desk."</p><p>"I thought that should be obvious because I, for one, knows about it, but yeah. I'm the one who out it," Viktor deadpanned, eventually reaching out to his device and continued playing his game.</p><p>Alicia frowned. "I don't understand," she admitted, continuing when Viktor gave a nod to indicate for her to continue. "Why would give me this letter? There's no special occasion and definitely, it's not even Valentine's Day."</p><p>This time, Viktor actually snorted while kept his eyes glued to the game. "Yeah, like I would," he answered honestly. Honestly, he would've been horrified for being blunt to the head prefect* but seeing this side of Alicia is entertaining at least. So why not use it to his advantage?</p><p>At the corner of his eye, he can see Alicia giving him a dark look but he ignored it. "But Ali's the one who asked to give it to you. So I just do it for the sake of my best friend."</p><p>Alicia perked upon hearing Ali's name. Feeling hopeful, she asked, "So...can you tell me where he is?" Please, she pleaded inside, just tell me where he is.</p><p>Viktor groaned. Alicia took a glance at the screen to see that he lost the game, but she knew some of the frustration was most likely from her. "Look, I'm not going to tell you where Ali is, no matter how many times you're going to ask me to." Alicia looked disappointed at that and Viktor added, "Besides, I think the letter might explain everything, including his absence. Well, that's what I think but who knows? You won't know until you read it."</p><p>That...makes so much sense. Why didn't I think of that, Alicia thought, feeling embarrassed for not thinking. So much for being the head prefect.</p><p>"Right," she muttered just as the bell rang, indicating that recess is over. Victor took his tablet and left the table to the class while Alicia lingered a bit at the canteen, deep in thought. Slowly, she made her way to the classroom and sat down just as the teacher entered the classroom to start the lesson.</p><p>However, her mind was not on the lesson, but at the thought of where could the boy whom she dislikes so much could possibly be. Ali may be the type to sometimes disappear out of nowhere, but it wouldn't take long before he was found. Unharmed mostly.</p><p>But this is different, she knew. Ali is nowhere and there's no contact from him whatsoever that it's weird. Not even Bakar gets a single call from Ali.</p><p>Just where are you Ali, is the only thing Alicia thought right now as the day continued.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*Head prefect: a senior student that is responsible in ensuring that students are following the school rules and also ensuring that other prefects are doing their job. In terms of which year/grade that students can become prefect varies in each school. Head prefect tend to fall on those who's in their senior/final year of school.</p><p>As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. He left</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alicia read the letter to discover a very different side of Ali. She doesn't like it.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The moment school ended, Alicia rushed to the academy. She arrived earlier than the rest of her fellow agents, which was exactly what she wanted to hopefully have the time to read the letter that Ali left for her. </p><p>'He better have a good explanation to all of this,' Alicia thought as she went to find some kind of a storage room to hide in for her to read the letter. Eventually, she managed to find a small storage room down the hallway from the main entrance. The space should be sufficient enough to hide her from the other agents, or at least not putting her in the center of attention.</p><p>'But then, who is smart enough to put something so private,' she thought as she fished the letter out, ripping the flap carefully before pulling out a smooth, clean paper that was roll folded in three parts. However, Alicia felt something else in the letter. With her eyebrows scrunched together, she held the folded paper in between her middle and ring finger and using her forefinger and thumb to grab the object. The surface of the object is smooth. Familiarly smooth...</p><p>She pulled the object out and her eyes widened in surprise; it's an IRIS. At that moment, dread began to fill her stomach. Something is wrong, she knew; terribly wrong. Ali would never willingly gave up his IRIS, despite losing control over it two times already. No, he vowed to protect IRIS with his life; he's willing to take responsibility of it!</p><p>Alicia quickly shook her head and unfolded the letter, her fingers gripping IRIS tightly. </p><p>
  <em>Dear Alicia,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I know you're going to find it weird that I reached out to you through a letter rather than, I don't know, a phone? But I supposed there's a purpose to that; if I use my phone, I know you will track me down and I don't want it. So...I guess a letter will do. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Okay, where to start? Firstly, I want to apologize. For everything. From pissing you off to abusing IRIS, and  for making you feel like a failure. I'm so sorry for that. I know, I know, what can an apology could possibly do to mend the situation? Nothing, is the answer. But honestly, this is the best thing that I can do because I couldn't bring myself to face you...nor face MATA. It's a cowardly move, I know, but be honest; every time I'm there, I made things worse, didn't I? Please...don't lie to yourself. I know that's what I did. I know you're ashamed of me but please...forgive me.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Second of all, I quit being an agent. I know others used to say that I have a lot of potential in being a great agent if I was trained in using IRIS properly, but you know what happened? I hurt people. I hurt others. That's what I did. It was from that moment that I knew that I'm not a good agent.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The next part is probably, no, WILL tick you off....I quit being an agent. I know and I've heard people said that I have a lot of potential, but do I really? Do I actually have any potential? I think the only potential I have so far is hurting others, and that's not what agent should be doing, right? I mean, what do you expect from me? I'm just a boy who was forced to be an agent...not by choice. I'm not a good agent Alicia.</em>
</p><p>From that point on, Alicia couldn't bring herself to proceed with reading. It was too much to handle. Normally, she would've been happy with his decision, because that would mean that she doesn't have to 'babysit' him as it was assigned to her by her father. However, deep inside, there's a crack.</p><p>This is not him; this is not the Ali she knew. The Ali she knew wouldn't give up. He would get up and tried again until he succeed, despite being beaten down time and time again. The Ali she knew would be determined to prove others that he is capable of being an agent; that he is worthy of one, and will do anything to help others in need. Yet here it is, a handwritten letter given to her by Ali himself, declaring that he quits being an agent nor he is a good one. </p><p>He <em>is </em>careless, true, but he does it out of good intentions; he'll get up and try again. Where <em>is </em>that Ali? </p><p>He can't just give up, Alicia thought as she folded the letter back into its three-part roll fold, inserting it back into the envelop along with IRIS, before leaving the storage room. Within that exact moment, she ended up seeing the exact person she's looking for.</p><p>"Agent Zain," Alicia called out as she jogged a bit towards him.</p><p>The man, Zain, the chief pillar of NEURO, stopped in his tracks and turned to the girl who jogged towards him. He turned to face her fully as she stopped, standing right before him with the letter and IRIS clutched in her hand. "How may I help you, Alicia?" he asked.</p><p>With a deep breath, Alicia stood straight and handed him the letter. "Ali's resigning," she answered simply. "There's an IRIS and what I believe to be resignation letter inside the envelope. He's serious about it." As an emphasis, Alicia took out IRIS and the letter out of the envelop. </p><p>Zain looked at these two objects in shock. Grabbing IRIS first, he examined a bit and confirmed that the gadget is not fake. Without a word, he took the letter and his eyes skimmed through the content. Eventually, he sighed. "I should've see him the other day," he muttered.</p><p>Alicia looked at lost of words at the moment before slowly spoke up, "what should we do?"</p><p>Sighing silently to himself, Zain replied, his eyes still on the letter and IRIS, "I will talk this over with the other chief pillars. This IRIS will not sync with anyone but Ali. Even if we are to let someone else take IRIS, we still need him in order break the sync, so that IRIS can sync with a different person." Then he turned to Alicia. "For now, try to find Ali and convinced him to come back to the academy."</p><p>"And if he refuse, sir?"</p><p>"...then bring him back here to separate him from IRIS."</p><p>"...yes, sir."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Do leave some comments and kudos!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Car crash</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alicia just witnessed a gruesome car crash</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>School ended today like the usual, but it wouldn't be usual for Viktor as the head prefect approached him. Again. </p><p>"Viktor," Alicia called out and stood before him, "I need to know why Ali didn't come to school yesterday."</p><p>A week has passed since Ali didn't come to school, Alicia would be lying to herself if she said that she's not worried. It alarmed her even more when her homeroom teacher didn't make Ali's absence a big deal, which was rather unusual for her because as strict as she is, she wanted what's best for her students. So the fact that she looked unbothered by his disappearance was a rather disturbing fact to Alicia. </p><p>Throughout the week, she genuinely wanted to think that he's sick, but a week have already passed and Ali is nowhere to be found on the school grounds. Within that week, Alicia couldn't wait anymore longer and decided to ask Viktor of Ali's whereabouts, only for him to completely avoid her every time she's in his line of vision. </p><p>That is, until today when Viktor stood in front of the school. </p><p>"You're still on with that?" Victor asked, annoyance can be traced in his voice.</p><p>Alicia inwardly winced upon hearing how annoyed he was. Well, they didn't have the best of relationship, so it does it shouldn't come as a surprise to her that he started to feel annoyed with her constantly asking questions. Reluctantly, she spoke (god, when has she became like this around Viktor?), "Ali can't just keep on skipping school like this. His grades will be affected and he's on the verge of failing the whole grade."</p><p>To Alicia's surprise, Viktor snorted. "Who said Ali has been skipping school? And also, did you even read the letter that he left you? I was pretty sure he left a good reason why he didn't come to school."</p><p>"Err...about that," Alicia couldn't help but feel embarrassed. "I didn't finish reading it...."</p><p>Viktor groaned. "Aiyooo, are you actually a head prefect*? Because it seems like you don't think like one."</p><p>Alicia would have feel offended if it wasn't for the fact that Viktor spoke the truth. She went quiet for a while, wondering why didn't she finished reading the letter until the end? Just by Ali had written the letter in the beginning, she knew that he was going to explain <em>everything, </em>surely from quitting being MATA and the sudden of not going to school. Just how dumb can she be honestly?</p><p>"Okay, fine," Viktor sighed, putting his tablet away. "His father pulled him out of the school, okay? I don't know a lot but from Ali had told me, they're moving out of Cyberaya to somewhere."</p><p>Alicia looked at him in shock. He's not serious, right? "Wait, what? Did he really?"</p><p>"Of course, I'm serious lah**," Viktor replied in annoyance. "What makes you think I would lie about something as serious as this?"</p><p>"No, no, it's just that...." Alicia trailed off for a moment. "You know what, never mind. Thanks for the info, Victor." With that, she walked away, leaving Viktor standing, looking at her in confusion before he shrugged and walked to the bus stop where his mother typically pick him up.</p><p>Alicia just stood by the school gates, her mind circulating on the fact that Ali and his father is leaving Cyberaya. Did his father got fired from his job? No, that wouldn't be possible; his father is a genius, so there is absolutely no way that he would get fired. Maybe resigned? But if he did, then for what reason? Or does moving away has something to do with the incident a few days ago? No...that wouldn't be; his father didn't even know that his son is an agent in MATA. Even after considering all these questions, Alicia couldn't think of a reason why Ali and his father is leaving Cyberaya. </p><p>It doesn't make sense.</p><p>Before she can think further, a slick, black car sped down the street, barely missing her.  Alicia stood still right where she's at, frozen in a state of shock. She heard the tires screeched and a loud crash. The commotion began with a woman screaming and people muttering, numerous footsteps jogged to the area. Faintly, she can hear a man speaking to another person through his phone, his tone laced with worry as he urged the speaker on the other end to hurry while quickly telling them them the address of the school.</p><p>He's calling 999***.</p><p>Alicia slowly dared herself to turn around and she thought she was going to throw up at the moment; at the nearest pole, a telephone pole, was the once speeding car crashed by the front, its hood dented heavily against the pole and glass shards scattered everywhere. The pole that the car crashed into heavily bent at the direction of where the car crashed into, causing the long part of the pole to tilt a bit. She was sure that if it wasn't for the people crowding around it, she would've seen some part of the body, most likely an arm out the car window, along with its heavy bleeding as well. Alicia couldn't handle seeing the crash, but the bloody body? </p><p>She'll have nightmares, that's for sure.  </p><p>For a moment, Alicia was contemplating to just go home but remembered that she has training to do. Though secretly, she knew that she wouldn't be able to concentrate with how vivid her memory has now of the crash. </p><p>The scene was too vivid. </p><p>She doesn't know how long she stood there, her breath heavy and her eyes widened at the incident. A sound of the ambulance siren entered the scene and snapped Alicia out of her trance. In a fast pace, she quickly took the chance of the people's distraction and turned back into the school grounds, quickly making her way to the old store room, a hidden entrance into the academy.</p><p>Even as she started her lesson and her training, the gruesome crash stayed in her mind, no matter how much she wanted her head to get rid of it. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>For non-Malaysians:</p><p>*prefect: a pupil who is responsible for enforcing discipline.</p><p>**lah: a slang in Malay language</p><p>***999: an emergency contact number in Malaysia. I think this is also used in UK. </p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Life is cruel</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alicia and Bakar discussed about the previous car crash and she was called in to meet MATA chief pillars</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Alicia," Bakar called out to Alicia one day during lunch time, "I heard there's a car crash happened in front of your school. Are you okay?"</p><p>'Ahh, the crash,' she thought as she took a bite out of her sandwich. Days have passed since the crash but it felt just like yesterday. The car was bit too close to her and she's positive that if he swirled a bit to the left, she would've been on her way to the hospital in an ambulance along with that driver. </p><p>She shivered a bit at the thought of that. </p><p>"Yeah," she muttered. "I saw it."</p><p>Bakar nodded. "Must be traumatizing," he said as he unwrapped his burger. "The car didn't only almost hit you, but happened near you. It doesn't help that you took a glance at the crash site and now, you can't get it out of your head."</p><p>Alicia perked up at that. "You sounded like you've been through that before."</p><p>"I did," the KOMBAT* agent confirmed. "The only difference was that I was in high school when I witnessed that accident. But still, it doesn't make your experience any less traumatizing."</p><p>The girl merely nodded in response. The two ate in silence before Bakar spoke up, "it was unfortunate that the driver was not the only one who was killed."</p><p>"Wait, what?" Alicia turned to him in wide eyes. "What? How? Why?-"</p><p>"There's another person standing there," Bakar answered grimly. "I heard that he was trying to call someone when the car crashed into him."</p><p>Alicia was speechless for a moment, before finding herself reluctantly asked, "who...?"</p><p>Bakar merely shook his head. "No one knew who he is because the media didn't release a full information on him. The only thing that the media released was that he was standing at the pole and died on impact when the car crashed into him."</p><p>For a moment, Alicia was confused. "Why won't the media release information about him? Is he someone important?"</p><p>The shrugged as he chewed on his burger. He swallowed before answering, "From what I've heard, his family directly requested the media not to release any information regarding him. According to them, they feel like there's going to be people crashing the funeral of the sort, which I don't understand on why would people do such a thing. Anyway, the funny thing is that no one heard of him."</p><p>"People heard of him or not, he didn't deserve to die," Alicia said. "The driver was really reckless with his driving that he robbed the life of someone else."</p><p>The man agreed, "Indeed. Want to know what caused the driver to speed down the road and crashed?"</p><p>Alicia gave him a questioning look, and Bakar answered, "apparently, he drank."</p><p>The girl's eyes widened at the answer. "D-Drank? As in, drunk? Drunk driving?"</p><p>"Drunk driving," Bakar confirmed. "The police discovered beer bottles and drugs hidden in the bonnet of the car. It's insane because the driver is not even at a legal age to consume alcohol as he's nineteen. If the driver was still alive, he would've been arrested for illegal alcohol consumption.*"</p><p>Alicia shook her head at this, not replying as Bakar continued to tell her on the information that he learned about the dead, and apparently drunk driver. Nineteen years old. At such a young age, he wasted his time and life on committing actions that are definitely illegal in the country. Illegal alcohol consumption was one offence, but possessing drugs? That reckless driver clearly doesn't love his life; to throw it away so recklessly is beyond her. It made her mad to know that his recklessness extended to the death of another human being. The thought sickened her to her core. </p><p>"Oh, by the way," Bakar spoke up, interrupting her thought process. "the chief pillars asked for you to meet them directly after training. They need to discuss with you about Ali."</p><p>At the mention of the boys' name, Alicia felt her stomach churned. "Agent Bakar, you're his uncle, right? Are you sure that you have no contact from him whatsoever?"</p><p>"Unfortunately, no," the KOMBAT agent sighed. </p><p>"...nothing?" </p><p>"...nothing."</p><p>Alicia sighed in defeat. So far, she's getting nowhere. After Viktor revealed to her of Ali's decision to leave Cyberaya along with his father, she couldn't bring herself to go ahead and finish the letter; she doesn't think she can bear with it. Also, the letter is in the possession of agent Zain. So, all the more reasons not to finish reading the letter. </p><p>After finishing their meal, the two went back to training, though Alicia's mind was somewhere else. Anywhere but training. The next thing she knew, she was making her way to the area (?) where the meeting will be taken place. </p><p>She entered the meeting room to see that the meeting has already started. In the middle stood her father, General Rama, and in front of him were four screens, each having its own designation colour of red (TEKNO), yellow (NEURO), blue (KOMBAT), and grey (INVISO), with only three of them that were lightened. In those three screens were silhouettes of the chief pillars with their designated colour glowed around them. </p><p>Alicia greeted them and stood next to the general. </p><p>"Alicia," the woman, Dayang, chief of TEKNO pillar, greeted the girl, "thank you for using your time to be here with us. I hope you do not have anything important that you need to do today?"</p><p>The girl shook her head. "Aside from school work, I don't have anything else important."</p><p>The TEKNO chief pillar nodded. "Perfect. I believe that this meeting will be quite long." With that, she started, "do you have any news regarding Ali? We were made aware by agent Zain that Ali is quitting MATA, and agent Karya revealed to us that Ali also haven't been in school for the past week. Do you have any other information regarding his whereabouts?"</p><p>So the letter didn't reveal that Ali will be leaving Cyberaya. </p><p>"He...," Alicia paused for a moment to contemplate whether she should tell them or not. After a few moments, she continued, "left."</p><p>"MATA?" Zain asked.</p><p>"...Cyberaya," she clarified.</p><p>Everything crashed around them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>* = in Malaysia (at least according to the internet), the legal age to consume alcohol is at 21. Also, drug-related crimes are serious offence in Malaysia. So yeah, if this driver is alive, he's screw big time. </p><p>Also for non-Malaysians:</p><p>TEKNO = TECHNO</p><p>NEURO = NEURO (I think this is obvious)</p><p>KOMBAT = COMBAT</p><p>INVISO = INVISABLE</p><p>I know this might seem unnecessary but I'm sure there's a small number of you who probably doesn't know, or think they know but can't confirm, so here it is!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. What is he to you?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>More discussion on Ali and Alicia seek Viktor's help one last time</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The three chief pillars looked at the girl in shock before the KOMBAT chief pillar, Ganz, roared. "What?! Impossible; how are we going to offer that boy another chance if his attitude is like this?! Running away rather than taking responsibility?!"</p><p>"Ganz, enough!" Dayang said sternly. "He doesn't even know that we're going to give him another chance! It's not surprising that Ali would do that considering the cold shoulder he received from his peers!"</p><p>"That just shows how weak he is!"</p><p>"Yelling won't help in this matter," Zain interrupted calmly, and the two settled down, albeit Ganz settled with a glare. The NEURO chief pillar turned his gaze to the girl before them. "Alicia, you're the closest to Ali of all the young agents in this academy, so you have the best chance in finding him. We personally ask you to find him and convince him to come back if you can."</p><p>Alicia looked conflicted for a moment, but she nodded nonetheless. </p><p>"Is there anything else we should know, Alicia?" Dayang asked.</p><p>After a moments of thought, she replied, "I was told by Ali's best friend that his father pulled him out of school already."</p><p>The room was quiet for a moment before Zain sighed. "I see. Then, the search will be more difficult than anticipated. If you can't confront Ali in school, then the best course is to confront him in his own home. We hope that you can do this before he moves out of Cyberaya."</p><p>But, I don't even know where his house is, Alicia thought. "I'll do my best," she replied instead and faced the chief pillars. "I'll do my very best to get Ali to come back to the academy."</p><p>"We know," Zain said. "Good luck." With that, all three chief pillars disappeared from view and the father-daughter pair left the room.</p><p>The two were silent for a moment before General Rama spoke up, "Alicia, were you serious when you said that Ali is leaving Cyberaya? If so, when?"</p><p>"I don't know," she admitted. "All I know is that his father is leaving Cyberaya with Ali and when they will leave, I don't know. I have to ask his best friend about it."</p><p>"Please do. Ali may be trouble, but he's valuable to MATA. Without him, IRIS will be useless." With that, general Rama went back to his office while calling to Alicia to go back to her training. With a sigh, Alicia went to the training room where her classmates were right now.</p><p>All she hoped that Victor will cooperate with her to find Ali's whereabouts. Fast.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>"Viktor," Alicia called out to him during recess time, "I need your help."</p><p>Viktor inwardly groaned, wondering what this girl wanted now. "What is it now?" He huffed. Secretly, he knew that he sounded a bit rude to her, but she's been pestering him about Ali ever since she learned that he was pulled out of school, so he became annoyed with it.</p><p>"This is final," she pleaded. "Just one last help. I promise. Please. And after this, I'll stop bothering you."</p><p>He was silent for a few moments before eventually let out a sigh, knowing that she won't stop pestering him until he helped her, so Viktor nodded. "What is it that you need help with?"</p><p>Alicia beamed and Viktor looked at her in surprise, never seen the head prefect smile. The only expression he's seen her have was an intimidating scowl, which made sense considering her position in the school. She said quickly, "I need to know his house address."</p><p>Immediately, Viktor narrowed his eyes at her, "And why should I give you the address?"</p><p>"Viktor, I know that you don't like me because of what I did to Ali, and I completely understand. But now, there's something important that I need to do with him as soon as possible. At least before he leave Cyberaya. Please, I'm begging you," Alicia knew she sounded pathetic when she begged like this, but she's getting desperate here; she's running out of time. </p><p>Viktor took a moment to stare at the head prefect. All his life knowing her, he didn't expect Alicia to actually put aside her ego to plead with him. Many times, he witnessed her getting Ali in trouble and even though he understands that what Ali did is wrong, all Viktor sees is Alicia getting Ali in trouble but made no attempt to help him get better either. He wanted to say no but something in her eyes screamed how important it is. </p><p>Finally, Viktor sighed and took out his phone. "Phone number."</p><p>"Huh?"</p><p>"Are you deaf? I asked what is your phone number, so I can send the address to you through message, because I will give the address only one time. So don't come back to me for another."</p><p>"Deal," Alicia immediately replied and she gave him her phone number. Viktor keyed the number in his phone and typed something before a loud 'ding' can be heard from Alicia's phone. She unlocked the screen and on it reads, <em>new message. </em>Gripping her phone hard, numerous thanks escaped her lips before making her way to rush out to the classroom as the bell was about to ring. </p><p>She stopped, however, when Victor asked her, "what is Ali to you, Alicia? Why do you sought him out when all you do is making him miserable?"</p><p>The question was simple and honest, yet harsh. It shouldn't came as a surprise, considering how tense the both of them were for a couple of days since Ali was pulled out of school. She knew that Viktor didn't asked the question out of spite, but out of desire to hear an honest answer, especially when she was partly responsible for Ali's miserable life in school. </p><p>"I don't know," she replied honestly before leaving, though the question ringed in her head.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm sorry if Ganz comes out as harsh but I think it brings out his character as a strict chief pillar, so I made him a harsh person with high expectations of young agents. Anyway, hope you enjoy the story!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. A *failed* phone call</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alicia attempted to call Dr. Ghazali. Keyword: attempted</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alicia tried her best to follow the directions that Viktor gave her through text, but she couldn't help but feel like she's walking in a maze. The house was apparently far from school. It took many turns and Alicia had to eventually ask the passerby for the direction of the location of his house. After what she thinks is nearly an hour, she finally, FINALLY, found her destination. </p><p>Alicia huffed a sigh in relief, panting a bit from the constant walking around the neighbourhood area. </p><p>The house before her was a two-storey house to which, in Alicia's opinion, was too big for a small family to live. She didn't know why Ali would live in such a massive house when he's going to be the only child in the family, but then, it could be a form of showing that they are rich (in her perspective that is). Ali's father is known to be one of the important person in Cyberaya, having been one of the people who contributed to its rise. So it shouldn't come to her as a surprise on how rich he is in the city. </p><p>Quickly shaking her head to rid of the thoughts, Alicia made her way to the front door and her hand hovered over the button of the doorbell. Rubbing her fingers together in hesitation, she pressed the bell and waited as the sound travelled from the front into the interior of the house. Alicia waited for a moment until she heard soft sound of footsteps walking to the front where she's standing and a sound of locks being unlocked. The door opened to reveal a woman with black hair tied in a ponytail, tall in height, and dressed in a loose shirt and trousers. </p><p>The woman blinked. "Um, yes? May I help you?" </p><p>The first thing that came to Alicia's thoughts was that this woman looks too different to be related to Ali. No, scratch that; she looks nothing at all related to him!</p><p>"Forgive me for disturbing," Alicia greeted her politely, "but is Dr. Ghazali here by any chance?"</p><p>The woman furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Dr. Ghazali?" she asked, and stood there in thought. Alicia began to sweat drop at her first response. Is it possible that she's at the wrong house? Could Viktor have trolled her and gave her a different house address instead of Ali's? If he did, then she is so going to get him after this. She's on her time limit now to find Ali and he dared to troll her?! Oh, wait until-</p><p>"Oh, Dr. Ghazali?" the woman spoke up, interrupting her thought process. "As in the former owner of the house?"</p><p>This time, Alicia was the one who looked at her in confusion. "Former owner?" she repeated the words. </p><p>No...it can't be. </p><p>The woman nodded in confirmation. "Dr. Ghazali sold the house to us before he moved out," the woman explained gently. "Do you need his contact? I think my husband still has it."</p><p>"Ah, yes please."</p><p>The woman nodded. "Alright. A moment, please." She turned her head back to the inside of the house and called out, "Gul!" With that, the woman went back inside and left the door opened. She entered one of the rooms and while the woman searched for the man named 'Gul', Alicia was left in thoughts. Dr. Ghazali and Ali have already moved out of Cyberaya...meaning that she's too late. </p><p>No, Alicia thought as she quickly shook her head. 'It's not too late, I can still contact them'.</p><p>Just then, a man appeared before Alicia. "Sorry, we didn't expect any company," the man whom Alicia believed to be Gul, said sheepishly, rubbing his hand against the back of his head. "I heard you want Dr. Ghazali's contact?"</p><p>Alicia nodded in confirmation.</p><p>At the nod, Gul fished out his phone, unlocking it and went through it, most likely the contacts before showing the number to Alicia. "This is Dr. Ghazali's number," Gul said. "Just typed it down in your phone. </p><p>Alicia didn't hesitate and immediately typed the numbers down in her phone. After double checking it to make sure that she didn't key in any wrong number, Alicia nodded in satisfaction and immediately thanked the man, who nodded before closing the door as she left.</p><p>Quickly, she went to a nearby park and sat down on one of the benches, before pressing the number given by Gul. Except that her thumb hovered above the call button, suddenly having second thoughts about contacting Ali's father. In her hurry to find Ali as requested by the chief pillars, Alicia realised for a moment that the decision to do so was rather drastic, however, in references in contacting Dr. Ghazali. </p><p>Holding her phone for a moment, Alicia thought that she was going through some existential crisis for a moment; one, she wanted to call Dr. Ghazali in hopes of getting any information that she can find on his son, but on the other hand, there is a high possibility that Dr. Ghazali didn't even know her, considering the rocky relationship she has with Ali. There's no way Ali would share anything about her to his father, she's sure of it. </p><p>So that means if she call Dr. Ghazali, she'll a weird stranger or some scammer who calls people randomly . After some thoughts, Alicia decided to just do it and tapped the call button. </p><p>Putting the phone next to hear, Alicia heard it ringing before stopping, indicating that someone have picked up the call. A deep voice said, "hello" on the other side.</p><p>"Hello, is this Dr. Ghazali?" Alicia asked. She was sure that Gul wouldn't give her a different number, but she asked just to make sure. Besides, it'll look improper if she jumped to asking him where Ali is.</p><p>The man was silent for a moment before he answered roughly, "Sorry, wrong number." At that, the line beeped, indicating that it was hung up. For a moment, Alicia just sat there in shock as she slowly pulled her phone away from her ear.</p><p>Well...at least she tried. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>In case if you didn't understand why Dr. Ghazali just hang up on Alicia, it's because he's not familiar with her whatsoever and thought it was another scam. Based on a true story btw.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Bakar's plan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Bakar planned to go home but Alicia sees it differently</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Since that day, Alicia tried again in calling Dr. Ghazali but couldn't make it through. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that Dr. Ghazali have blocked the number sometime, which makes the mission even harder as he is the only key that she knew that could lead her to Ali.</p><p>But of course, when has life ever been easy? Especially at this time?</p><p>With she unable to contact Dr. Ghazali, Alicia has nowhere to look with exception of Bakar, whom she suddenly remembered to be Ali's uncle. That realisation made Alicia wanted to bang her had against a wall for her stupidity; it's obvious! Bakar is Ali's uncle! Surely he knows where Ali is right now, considering how close they are!</p><p>Well, that is until the IRIS incident.</p><p>Lunch time rolled in and Alicia immediately made her way to find Bakar at one of the empty tables within the school cafeteria, stuffing his mouth with burger. It was a bit messy, as the ketchup dripped from his mouth to his chin, but fortunately, that's the only messy thing about him eating. Still, Alicia find herself inwardly wanting to recoil from the scene but forced herself to approach. If she wanted to find Ali as soon as possible, then she has to do this!</p><p>"Agent Bakar," Alicia greeted him and sat on the seat across him. Bakar merely hummed at her in acknowledgement, as his mouth is full. The man reached for the napkin nearby and wiped the mess.</p><p>"Hello, Alicia," he greeted after swallowing the contents, "how may I help you?"</p><p>"Do you know where Ali is by any chance?" she asked, decided to cut to the chase. Alicia knew that she could've worded it better but she believes it's time sensitive, especially when she didn't know where Ali is right now and how is he.</p><p>To her surprise, Bakar sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't," he admitted, putting his half of eaten burger down. "My brother-in-law, his father, cut contact with me the moment he left Cyberaya. I have no update on Ali."</p><p>Alicia stared at Bakar in shock. Her face probably looked stupid or so but how can she not? Throughout the time when Ali was in the academy, he was the closest to Bakar out of all of them and after Dr. Ghazali ended up blocking her (most likely assuming that she might be a scammer), Bakar was pretty much her last hope to the key in finding the boy.</p><p>"I don't understand," she answered after some time of thought. "You two are family..."</p><p>"I am his family member through his wife, Aliya, my sister," he clarified. "While we didn't argue or anything that could severe our familial status, our relationship did somewhat strain after Aliya's death. Don't get me wrong; we didn't leave on bad terms. It's just that...we barely talk to each other."</p><p>For a moment, Alicia couldn't bring herself to comment anything. At this point, this has become somewhat a confidential territory so to speak, as it involves close family, which is definitely a line that Alicia shouldn't enter. Bakar sharing his somewhat strained relationship with Ali's father was already a personal information that shouldn't be share with anyone outside the family in her opinion.</p><p>However considering the fact that Bakar shared this, maybe this could relate to the possibility of her finding Ali?</p><p>"I know you're stressed out," Bakar said. "You're determined to find Ali and get him to come back to the academy. I've seen the hard effort you've put in searching for him, but you need to remember to look after yourself sometimes. Take a break perhaps? You won't be able to find Ali when you work yourself to death."</p><p>Immediately, Alicia protested, "I can't stop. The chief pillars have entrusted this mission to me and I can't afford to fail. I will try my hardest to find him, even if I have to die trying."</p><p>Bakar chuckled. "As you've always been, Alicia. I'm not surprise. Well, just remember to take of yourself at some point."</p><p>The young NEURO agent merely replied a nod. She sat there as Bakar continued to eat his lunch while she find herself not really hungry. Deeply, she wished there is something that she can use to find him but alas, nothing is ever easy. She tried to think of any other way to find some kind of lead, any lead that could possibly give her a hint of his whereabouts. That is, if she's able to find some.</p><p>"You know," Bakar spoke up, "I was thinking of taking a few days off being an agent and stay at my hometown instead. I couldn't focus on missions and with Ali missing, I lose focus completely. Guess God is telling me that I should take a break for a few days."</p><p>Alicia stared at the man, her mind wondered why he would share with her his plans in taking breaks from mission when an idea crashed into her mind. What if, just what if, she goes with him? There could be a new lead that could help her find Ali.</p><p>It may sound like a stupid idea, but to her, it's one of the best in the midst of her desperation.</p><p>"I'm going with you," Alicia replied to Bakar's surprise.</p><p>"Are you out of your mind?"</p><p>"I am. But I believe that going to visit your hometown could possibly help me find a lead to Ali's whereabouts. It sounds crazy, but I'm sure that I know what I'm doing."</p><p>Bakar went silent for a moment before he eventually sighed.</p><p>"I don't know, Alicia," he answered honestly. "But I'll discuss with the general about it." With that, Bakar left to continue his disguise, throwing the burger plastic in the rubbish bin, leaving Alicia alone at the table with her thoughts.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Comments and kudos are appreciated always!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. A realization</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I'm getting tired in writing chapter summaries (～￣▽￣)～ but anyway, Alicia discuss with Khai about her plan to join Bakar</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Since that day, Bakar went to discuss it with General Rama who in turn approached Alicia. Evidently, the general was concerned with her plan but Alicia put her foot down, wanting to go along with the plan. She didn't know how but apparently some of her fellow young agents learned of the plan. </p><p> </p><p>One of them is Khai.</p><p>"Are you sure it's a good idea, Alicia," Khai asked her after training ended one day. "I mean, I'm not saying it's a bad idea because you do need a lead to find Ali, but don't you think this could be...an invasion of privacy to the family?"</p><p>Alicia was quiet for a moment before confessing, "I'm aware that this can be an invasion of privacy-"</p><p>"It IS an invasion of privacy," Khai interrupted though Alicia continued.</p><p>"-But I feel like going with Bakar back to his home town is the only way for me to find any other leads to Ali's whereabouts. I can't think of any other way, Khai."</p><p>This put Khai deep in thoughts before sighing. "I understand your position and everything, but I still find this to be an invasion of privacy, considering how private Ali is about his home life."</p><p>"Khai, I get the idea, there's no need to mention two to three times, geez," Alicia before her ears caught the last sentence. "Wait, what did you say?"</p><p>The boy turned to her. "An invasion of privacy?"</p><p>"No, the other last sentence."</p><p>"Ali is private about his home life?"</p><p>Alicia nodded. "That." At Khai's look of confusion, the girl quickly clarified. "I mean to make it clear, he's being private?"</p><p>Khai looked at her with even more confusion and replied, "Well, yeah? For some reason, Ali is apparently not the type to share anything in relation to his home life, even if we ask. I think the only thing that he shared was that he lives with his single dad and doesn't have a mum. And he has Comot, of course. Aside from that, he didn't share anything else."</p><p>"Huh," was Alicia's only reply to his explanation. This is the part of Ali that she didn't know about. She thought that he's close to his friends here in the academy enough to share some things that are very personal to him to them, considering that she's not that close with him. So it kind of came to her as a surprise to know that Ali doesn't share such thing with them. </p><p>"Well, he's a private person anyway," Khai said shrugging it off. "So it's not really a big deal if he didn't share any private stuff."</p><p>Alicia didn't reply to the statement this time. Rather, she kept her thoughts about it to herself as she thought on Bakar, who's probably thinking on what to pack for the trip. Alicia knew that she had to pack soon as she's coming with him, all the while contemplating on what to say when she meet the family. </p><p>Besides, she did come to a family who most likely didn't even know her.</p><p>"Alicia,"Khai called out, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Do you think...Ali's okay?"</p><p>The girl looked at him in confusion and Khai clarified, "I mean he's okay as in mentally. You know, emotional kind of thing...Actually nevermind. Forget I said anything-"</p><p>"No, no," Alicia interrupted. "Do tell. It might be important later on when I found him."</p><p>Khai looked at the girl and sighed. "I don't know, but I have this gut feeling that he might do something that could harm himself, considering how much he struggled here in the academy and maybe school because he did share how his life there."</p><p>Alicia scrunched her eyebrows for a moment, thinking over his words and said, "I doubt that happened to Ali. I'm pretty sure he's somewhere sulking because of what happened." As confident she is in her answer, her tone, however, said otherwise.</p><p>"I don't think sulking is the right word to describe him now," Khai replied. "Yes, I am aware that Ali is somewhat prone to sulking from what I head, but I'm sure he was pretty devastated after the IRIS incident. It occurred out of his control and you guys got mad at him when he tried to explain himself. I mean, yeah, I'm not going to deny that it will just a bunch of excuses but we didn't give him a chance to explain how it happened. Heck, he didn't even remember what he did. Also, the fact that we didn't even bother to try to comfort him and Jet started to call him 'Agent IRIS' and everything. It's just...cruel in my opinion and I'm positive that it didn't do good on his mental health."</p><p>Alicia was quiet at that. Khai wasn't wrong, because truth to be told, Ali was hurt at that time and the fact that she got mad at him didn't help either. Now that Alicia thought back to when Ali was in school and everything, she realized that his life wasn't all that great. Contrary to what most have believed that Ali has a great life due to the fact that he's rich, Ali lacked parental love from his busy father, and he was bullied relentlessly at school. The fact that other fellow agents in the academy bullied him because of IRIS just made things worse for him.</p><p>In that moment, Alicia realized that Ali might see the academy as part of the things that brings joy to his already miserable life. And they destroyed that.</p><p>Maybe that was the reason why he decided to move away from Cyberaya; he's at his breaking point.</p><p>"Alicia," Khai called out. "You okay?"</p><p>"I'm fine," she gritted out before walked away, her heart heavy at the realization how miserable Ali is all this time.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Happy reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Their journey</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The journey from Cyberaya to Pulau Rintis is far. When Alicia thought it's going to be a long journey, she thought it was going to be one or two hours, but apparently the journey to Pulau Rintis was four to five hours away. Honestly speaking, she didn't expect it to be THIS long.</p><p>She had also come to learn that there's no direct train to Pulau Rintis, so they had to stop somewhere in another city and changed to a different train that will take them directly to Pulau Rintis. Alicia genuinely didn't know that the journey will be this exhausting as she found herself sitting on her luggage as Bakar went to buy some snacks at the nearest convenient store, just after they had lunch and Bakar went for his afternoon prayer.</p><p>"Alicia," Bakar called out as he approached her. She saw him holding out a few bags full of chips. "Here. I don't know what you like, so I just buy whatever comes to mind. I know we just had lunch but we need snacks because the journey ahead will be long. So this will do to supply pur stomachs until we can get real food."</p><p>Her first reaction was to reject it and lecture Bakar on how important it is to take care of their health as agents, until she took in Bakar's words. He wasn't wrong; the next train ride will most likely take about three hours until they arrive, so these snacks are actually important for a time being. Eventually, Alicia replied with a nod and took two to three bags of chips before stuffing them in her bagpack.</p><p>The two went to the area where they wait for their train along with other passengers. The train arrived a few minutes later and they entered before finding their seat. Bakar sat on one side while Alicia sat across him. It wasn't long before the train began moving and they're off to Pulau Rintis.</p><p>In a moment of silence, Alicia spoke up, "Say Bakar?" and the queation was responded with a humm, indicating that he's listening. "You mentioned that you weren't that close to Dr. Ghazali, and I couldn't help but wondered why?"</p><p>Bakar paused for a moment, looking to Alicia to see that she was focusing on the scenery outside. Putting his phone away, Bakar reluctantly spoke up.</p><p>"<em>Abang, </em>he...doesn't really like how secretive I am, especially when Ali's involved. When he doesn't know where I or Ali is, he becomes really worried and I don't know how many notifications I got just from him alone."</p><p>Alicia frowned a bit at this and turned to him. "Why is that?"</p><p>Bakar sighed as he leaned against the soft cushion of the chair. "He's concerned and worried, which I understand, really. I mean, Ali is his only child and it was the only memory he has of his wife. So honestly, I can't blame him for resenting me a bit for being really secretive about my life as an agent."</p><p>"...Will Ali be there?"</p><p>"He should be," Bakar chuckled a bit as he took out his phone. "He's been wanting to move to Pulau Rintis for a long time."</p><p>"Ahh," was Alicia's only reply as she went back to look outside the window of the train. Now that they're out of the city, all she can see now was greenery of the forest. If Alicia was honest with herself, the view was amazing and wondered why she didn't bother to venture out of Cyberaya as it's a constantly busy city and everyone has somewhere to go.</p><p>Alicia can only hope that Ali is at Rintis Island.</p><p>"Will you tell me a bit about your family?" she muttered sleepily.</p><p>This is apparently a good subject for Bakar as he immediately jumped to it. "Believe it or not, our family is a bit different because our family is mixed religion. It made sense though because through my mother, some of our family members are Christian. My mother was born in a Christian family but converted to Islam long before marrying my father. The rest of my mother's family didn't convert though, which I have nothing against. I think the most unique one is my cousin."</p><p>Alicia found herself yawned a bit as a result of exhaustion." How is she unique?" she asked.</p><p>"She's half-Russian," Bakar said. "One of my aunts went to study in Russia and she ended up marrying a Russian man there. They had my cousin later on. She's visiting, so you'll meet her."</p><p>Alicia just hummed as an answer. The answer didn't seem to register her mind, considering how exhausted she felt. Despite her exhaustion, however, she did ended up reflecting on Bakar's story on the family. She never knew that Ali's family is a mixed religion of Islam and Christian, yet they managed to become somewhat a peaceful family. It did took her off guard, however, when Bakar revealed that his cousin is half-Russian.</p><p>Admittedly, she couldn't help but wondered what would she look like. Alicia heard from many people how beautiful Russian people are, but since she's never been to Russia, or never even left Malaysia, as a matter of fact. In many years of her life, she did see people mixed of Malay with Chinese, or with Indian, or Chinese and India. It was interesting, in her opinion.</p><p>Alicia soon realised that Bakar have stopped telling her the story and instead, focused on his phone as his hand took out chips from the bag. Soon, Alicia slowly found herself in darkness.</p><p>She's asleep. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Comments and Kudos are appreciated!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Yelena</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alicia didn't know how long she was asleep until Bakar gently shook her shoulder. Startled, she sat up straight in her seat, eyes wide for a moment and looked around to realize that she's on the train. For a moment, Alicia wondered <em>why </em>she's here until she saw Bakar and remembered the main goal; to find Ali. </p><p>Blinking, she wiped away the sleepiness off her eyes and covered her mouth as she yawned. Alicia grabbed her bag and followed Bakar to get off the train. She walked through the crowded station until she arrived at the entrance, which was also the pick-up area. </p><p>Rintis Island turned out to be bigger than she thought. It has a small town with shops that contains necessities, restaurants and food stalls, and of course, houses. It actually reminded her of the small town locating in the countryside, but in a big island. </p><p>She felt a hand tapped her shoulder and turned to see Bakar motioned to a woman walking towards them. Alicia felt her breath hitched for a moment. </p><p>The woman, most likely the tallest woman she's seen in her life, and even though she couldn't see it through her clothes, she appeared to quite fit. Her snow white, fair skin complements with her blue eyes and light blonde hair, which was tied in a low ponytail. </p><p>Who is that person? Alicia doesn't know, but what she knows was that that woman was probably the prettiest woman she has ever seen in her life. </p><p>The beautiful woman approached and stopped right in front of them. Right in front, the woman has a stoic look on her face as she stared at Bakar and Alicia just realized that all colour has been drained off Bakar's face. He also had a trace of fear held in his eyes, but not so much. </p><p>"Lena," Bakar sweat dropped, "I didn't expect you to come here to pick me up."</p><p>Alicia perked up at the question. So she's a foreigner then? No wonder she looks so different than the rest. But then, is she a friend to Bakar?</p><p><em>"You think I want to pick you up, cousin?" </em>the woman, named Lena apparently, replied, her voice considerably deeper than most women that Alicia have known in her lifetime, and she has an accent, making it obvious that she's definitely not from Malaysia. <em>"I only did it because uncle asked me nicely." </em>It took a moment for Alicia to realise that Lena was replying in English rather than Malay, yet she appeared to understand the language.</p><p>
  <em>Is this the half-cousin that Bakar mentioned?</em>
</p><p>Just then, her cold eyes turned to the young girl and Alicia flinched on instinct. She scoffed. <em>"And who is this girl?  Don't tell you kidnapped her, cousin. You've caused enough distraction back home and you're bringing another here? How irresponsible can you be?"</em></p><p>This time, Bakar was the one who flinched at her harsh words. Alicia can see long arrows, its end sharpened like knives, pierced him at each of her sentence and she couldn't blame him; she also winced at the way she spoke to him. </p><p>"Her parents are out of town," he explained. "They were called in the last minute and they didn't have the chance to contact their babysitter, so they called me instead."</p><p>Her eyes narrowed at the explanation, as if analysing the words to see if he's telling the truth. <em>"You already made plans to come here," </em>she hissed. <em>"Why must you accept it when you already have plans? Have your common sense shrunk, cousin?"</em></p><p>Bakar shrunk a bit at her words while Alicia sweat dropped. She's too good, she though. Alicia was positive it won't take long for Lena to eventually caught Bakar in his lie and worse, she might contact the police. </p><p>"Ahh, so harsh, Lena," Bakar laughed a bit, scratching the back of his head in nervousness. "But they helped a lot when I was in Cyberaya, so I felt bad if I didn't do anything to help in return. This is the best I can do to repay the debt."</p><p>If it wasn't for Lena's hawk eyes, Alicia would've looked at Bakar in awe. Smooth lie, agent Bakar, smooth lie. </p><p>Lena doesn't look convinced, however, but she eventually decided it was time to go. <em>"I'll let you go this time around, cousin. If I discovered it to be a lie, I willslaughter you," </em>she hissed at the man and turned. <em>"And for the last time, Bakar, it's Yelena. You don't have the right to call me 'Lena'."</em></p><p>With that, she turned away from the man and walked off in the direction of the car with Bakar following her with his shoulders slumped. Alicia stared at the two, feeling conflicted before slowly following them. She can hear Lena, no, <em>Yelena, </em>muttered softly, probably cursing in a language that she has never heard of before. </p><p>All three were silent as Yelena took the car out of the parking lot and drive home. Alicia took the time to look out the window to look through the scenery of the island. Throughout the journey, Alicia wondered how Ali is, having been aware how much he wanted to leave Cyberaya and stayed in Rintis Island. She had to admit that it's a nice island to stay in, so she's not surprised to know that Ali might have already settled in by now. </p><p>She began to mentally prepared herself for any more surprises, because she's already shocked with the amount of surprises she has now. Alicia knows that there's probably going to be more surprise than she hoped for. Admittedly, Ali's family is full of surprises; from discovering that the family is mixed religion to having a half-Russian cousin, who appeared not to have any trace of Malay blood in her. </p><p>Alicia doesn't know if she can handle more of them. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Meeting Tok Abah</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Let's take a break from the main plot :P</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The house turned out to be bigger than Alicia anticipated. It's a traditional Malay house that can be found within the village, but it has a touch of modern architecture in it, especially the design.</p><p>To say that she's surprised is an understatement.</p><p>Yelena parked the car near the house and motioned for the two, no, just Alicia, to follow her. They walked a bit to the house and Yelena merely knocked the door before she entered, calling put, "<em>we're home</em>!" while on the same time, Bakar muttered, "Assalamualaikum."</p><p>From the kitchen area, an elderly man appeared, dressed in blue short sleeve checkered shirt, dark blue pants and kopiah*. He's also wearing thin-framed glasses. The man gave them a soft smile, wrinkles decorating his face.</p><p>"Welcome back," he greeted. "I was just about to start dinner."</p><p>"Uncle, I told you that we'll handle dinner today," Yelena sighed and Alicia found herself shocked at how fluent her Malay. Perhaps she's not that hopeless with the language as she thought. Though, she does have a bit of an accent in her speech, which shouldn't be a surprise because Yelena did mentioned that she's visiting, meaning that she doesn't live in Malaysia.</p><p>In other words, her fluency in Malay is considerably good for someone who lives outside of Malaysia. </p><p>Just then, the kind eyes of the old man turned to Alicia before he turned to Bakar. "Oh! And who is this? I don't think I recall you telling me that you're bringing someone and I could've prepared a room..."</p><p>"I'm sorry, abah*," Bakar apologized as he scratched the back of his head. "But her parents had to work at the last minute and didn't have the chance to call for a babysitter. They helped me a lot over the years, so this is the best I can do to repay their help. This is Alicia, by the way."</p><p>Again, it's a smooth lie, Alicia thought. Though she's positive that Yelena was able to see through it but it can't be confirm. Not right now, especially when Ali is still missing and has yet to be found. </p><p>"I see," the elderly man said and gave a soft smile to the girl, who awkwardly smiled back, not wanting to be rude. "Well, it's good to meet you Alicia. I am called Tok Abah." The elderly man, Tok Abah turned back to Bakar with a disapproving look on his face. "I'm still disappointed that you didn't let me know earlier. If last minute, then at least call me about her while on the way. Surely, it wouldn't be that hard."</p><p>Yelena snorted and spoke up before Bakar can reply, with slight edge to her tone, "he's probably busy with his phone or snacks at the time. It would be surprising if he did remember to call after all." </p><p>Tok Abah gave her a look of disapproval instead. "Don't patronize him, Lena." The woman didn't reply, merely putting her hands up as a sign of surrender before walking away, but not before rolling her eyes. Tok Abah decided not to give any comments on it. </p><p>"Just let her sleep in Boboiboy's room for now," Yelena said and muttered, "<em>I'll set the damn bed, sheesh.</em>"</p><p>Yelena went upstairs just as Tok Abah called out, "Watch your language!" He sighed when Yelena made no attempts in responding to it and turned to Alicia. "I guess we'll take her suggestion. It's the only room available as of now, so I hope you don't mind sleeping there."</p><p>"I don't mind, sir," Alicia replied and merely put her bags to the side as Tok Abah conversed with Bakar about something that she believed she shouldn't listen to. It's probably family matters, she thought as she sat silently on the couch in the living room. Alicia took the time to look through the house to find that in the living room alone, it has an old-fashioned television across the couch, a wooden coffee table in between the television and the couch, and a few shelves.</p><p>While the exterior of the house does look somewhat plain, the interior spoke otherwise. </p><p>Just then, the front door opened and Alicia immediately turned to see a man entering. It shocked Alicia to see how tall he was, perhaps taller than Yelena, and is a bit buff. His curls are platinum blonde, except its colour is lighter than Yelena's.</p><p>And dear God, he's <em>handsome. </em>Though, he would've looked better if his smile wasn't that creepy.</p><p>"<em>Ah, a guest</em>," was the first thing he said upon laying his eyes on Alicia. The accented English was thick, much like how Yelena spoke. "<em>Yelena! You didn't tell me that we have a guest here!" </em></p><p>Harsh footsteps can be heard thundering down the stairs and Yelena appeared. A moment awkwardness can be felt in the air as the woman approached the man and it was then Alicia noticed that Yelena is a whole head shorter than the man...and Yelena is already tall by Asian standards. In other words, they're giants. </p><p>Just then, two lips met each other in a kiss and Alicia immediately turned away, flushed and embarrassed at having to seen such an intimate moment. Not to mention that kissing is not something that is normalize here in the country.</p><p>"Oi, if you want to be intimate, go to your bedroom!" Tok Abah called from the kitchen. "We have guest here! Have some decency!"</p><p>The two broke away to look at the elderly, the man's face looked annoyed at being interrupted whereas Yelena just laughed at it. "In a moment!" she replied as she pulled away from the man's embrace, causing him to whine a bit at the loss. Yelena merely lightly slapped his buffed arm. </p><p>"<em>Come now, Dmitry; be nice,</em>" Yelena scolded gently. Then she noticed Alicia shifting uncomfortably on the couch and laughed a bit while she blushed a bit as their guest had just witnessed their rather intimate moment. </p><p>"<em>Dmitry</em>," Yelena said, capturing the man's attention. "<em>This is Alicia. Alicia, Dmitry. My husband."</em></p><p><em>...</em>oh...OH. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*kopiah = a religious cap</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. An interesting stay</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her stay at Tok Abah's house has been...interesting to say the least.</p><p>For one, Alicia discovered how gorgeous his aunt is (and knew that Bakar wasn't making it up when he mentioned that his cousin doesn't look Malay at all despite being half-Malay) and she learned later on that she's married to a Russian man.</p><p>That said person is now sitting in front of her as Yelena spent time in the kitchen to prepare dinner after making sure that Alicia has comfortably placed her belongings in the guest room. The atmosphere was tense.</p><p>"<em>Alicia, right</em>?" the man, Dmitry, asked. She merely gave a timid nod, feeling intimidated by his buffed appearance. Is he part of the military or something?</p><p>He sensed it, however, and laughed a bit. "<em>No need to be afraid</em>," he grinned, "<em>I know I look intimidating but truly, I mean no harm. You may call me Dmitry, by the way</em>."</p><p>"<em>Ahh</em>," was her only response, and both were silent again except for the sounds of metals coming from the kitchen along with hushed words of Yelena speaking with Tok Abah. Eventually, Dmitry stood up. "<em>Well, I'll be at the backyard. If Alyona and Tok need anything, you can let me know.</em>" With that, he walked to the backdoor while whistling some unknown tune.</p><p>"Alyona?" Alicia muttered to herself in question.</p><p>"<em>It's me</em>," Yelena called out from the kitchen. "<em>It's a Russian nickname. Reserved for those who are close friends and family. Only Dima can call me that.</em>"</p><p>Now she's even more confused. "Dima?"</p><p>"Dmitry," was her only response. Alicia couldn't help but still felt confused on how Russian nicknames work, but decided to dwell into it too long as Yelena called that dinner is ready. Reluctantly, she made her way to the kitchen and sat down on one of the chair while Yelena went to get more utensils. Bakar entered the room and sat across Alicia while Dmitry set next to him. She realised that compare to Dmitry, Bakar is quite short, most likely taller than all men she met in MATA.</p><p>Yes, even Rizwan.</p><p>She scrunched her nose in displeasure at the thought of him, remembering his betrayal to the agency but shook it off as the rest of the family members sat down, with Yelena sitting on her left while Tok Abah took the seat next to Yelena.</p><p>They all expressed their gratitude for the food in different ways, in context of their different religion; Bakar and Tok Abah cupped their hands whereas Yelena and Dmitry said their grace before all digged in.</p><p>"Where's Ghazali?" Tok Abah asked Yelena as they eat. "He said that he's going to come home for dinner. Or did he got caught up in work again?"</p><p>Yelena snorted at that, ignoring the Dmitry's muttered of "<em>manners Alyona</em>" and replied in her thick, accented Malay, "most likely the latter. Knowing him." Tok Abah gave a sigh of disappointment, she continued, "You know him, uncle. He hasn't been coping well..."</p><p>"I understand but still...he has his health to take care of," Tok Abah muttered. He appeared to be wanting to continue more but Yelena merely shook her head.</p><p>"Uncle, don't think too much," she soothed. "Focus on dinner for now. He will return home soon and if he comes home late, we'll leave leftovers for him in the fridge..."</p><p>As Yelena continued to ease Tok Abah's worries, Bakar decided to take this opportunity to change the subject. "Yelena," he spoke up reluctantly, "is there a reason why you're here in Malaysia? As far as I know, it's not a holiday season or something..."</p><p>The question seemed to take the woman off-guard but she didn't respond. Dmitry looked at him in confusion before Yelena muttered something in his ear in a foreign language, most likely translating his question. He perked up and responded, "<em>Just something that we have to do. Besides, we have a few weeks off, so we thought that it doesn't hurt to visit."</em></p><p>"So...your parents are fine with it? Because I'm positive that they would insist you two see them instead."</p><p>Yelena answered this time, but in English. "<em>They did but there's some unfinished business here that we believe that needs to be dealt with. It's a gut feeling, I suppose. But apparently those gut feeling turned out to be true after all."</em></p><p>Bakar seemed confuse at this. "What...kind of business?"</p><p>The question was met with a glare, however. "<em>Business that clearly you shouldn't be putting your nose in. It stays with us only." </em>Bakar said nothing in reply to that. Yelena and Dmitry decided to use this time to converse with each other in Russian, most likely about the 'unfinished business' they have in the country.</p><p>As the conversation occurred, Alicia had been deep in thought of Ali's still unknown whereabouts. During her journey to Rintis Island, she was positive that Ali should be here somewhere, considering how much he tend to share of his desire to leave Cyberaya and stay in this island. Come to think of it, Alicia realized that none of the family members here even mentioned Ali; only his father was mentioned here but not the boy himself.</p><p>It made her wonder, did something happened to Ali? Is he okay? She also just realized, would Ali even want to go back to MATA?</p><p>Just then, the front door can be heard unlocked and opened softly. A soft greeting echoed in the now silent house, with Tok Abah and Bakar answered the greeting whereas Yelena and Dmitry merely muttered welcome home. A man emerged and entered the kitchen area. For a moment, she couldn't believe her eyes.</p><p>It was Dr. Ghazali...Ali's father.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Do they deserve to know</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alicia's eyes widened when the man entered her vision. It's him! Dr. Ghazali! Now to ask him about Ali...sooner or later she will. Sooner preferably. This mission has been stretched long enough.</p><p>"<em>Ghazali," </em>Yelena called out, standing up from her chair to the fridge. "<em>Go take a shower. I'll heat your food up."</em></p><p>The man looked at her in exhaustion and shook his head. "Lena, there's no need..." he started, only to met with a fiery glare. Ghazali sighed and nodded his head before heading upstairs to shower. Yelena took out the leftovers and heat it up before putting it all on the plate. It took Ghazali fifteen minutes to shower and change before walking downstairs to the dining room where Yelena had placed his dinner on the plate. He sat down and began to eat.</p><p>Alicia took a moment to observe him; there prominent wrinkles at the eye area to which Alicia noted to have never been there before the last time she saw him. His eye bags are darker than before and downcast; he looked tired than before. As a matter of fact, he looked older than before, and it made her wonder, 'what happened?'</p><p>"How was work, Ghazali?" Tok Abah asked him gently as the man ate his dinner slowly, as if he doesn't have the appetite to eat the meal.</p><p>The man stopped for a moment and thought for a moment before nodding. "It was fine," he answered, "I'm still getting used to it though, so it'll take a while to adapt."</p><p>Bakar stared at his brother-in-law before reluctantly spoke up, "is everything okay here, abang*?"</p><p>Ghazali turned to the new voice, his eyes widened upon realizing who spoke it up. Bakar looked concerned for the moment, wondering if he had done anything wrong that might have offended him but the said man turned away while muttering, "it's fine."</p><p>Bakar was about to ask another question, but the glare from Yelena discouraged him from doing so and instead, he focused on his meal. Alicia, however, looked at Ghazali in bewilderment, expecting him to mention something, anything, about Ali. She knew asking him directly was totally not an option, considering the fact that she's not even part of the family, but on the same time, she knew that there has to be a way for her to know about Ali.</p><p>Dinner had finished and Bakar insisted on doing the dishes. Alicia was sitting in the living room with Yelena and Dmitry, who put his arm around the woman as they watched. However, Alicia wasn't watching the television, nor did she even pay attention to it. Rather, she was thinking of a way to know more about Ali without making the family feel like they're invading their privacy. She had done that enough by staying here.</p><p>"Um, Yelena?" Alicia timidly called out to the woman, whose sharp eyes turned to the girl. The sight made her shivered a bit. "<em>where is...um...uncle Ghazali?"</em></p><p>Yelena raised her eyebrows at the question but answered nonetheless, "<em>upstairs. He's asleep right now. Why?"</em></p><p>For some reason, Alicia couldn't bring herself to ask about Ali. Instead, she answered, "<em>Just wondering how he's been doing here. Staying here and Cyberaya is very different, so I'm a bit curious."</em></p><p>The woman made a sound of acknowledgement. "Moving to the countryside from the big city is a huge difference but not impossible to adapt. It'll take a while but he'll be fine. He's adapting to this lifestyle fast, so he's fine here."</p><p>The girl merely nodded at and decided that she had intruded enough. She merely muttered that she's going to call the night, with the couple telling her in unison, "goodnight" before she slowly headed upstairs. Alicia was about to head to the guest room when she froze at the next word that came out of Dmitry's mouth.</p><p><em>"Aren't you going to tell her?" </em>Dmitry asked Yelena. <em>"Don't you think she and Bakar has the right to know about him?"</em></p><p>Alicia can hear the woman huffed faintly at that. <em>"I'm no fool," </em>she hissed quietly at him. <em>"Do you honestly think they deserved to know after all the things they've put him through? I don't think so. Let them suffer."</em></p><p>Dmitry sighed at her words. <em>"You're being unreasonable. What they did to Ali was bad and yes, I understand that, but you shouldn't exclude them from knowing the truth about him. They have the right to know because in the end, they're family. Pretty sure you can tell that they care about him."</em></p><p>A moment of silence between the two. Alicia leaned further into the open space to barely see Yelena deep in thought. Then, she shook her head. <em>"I'm not telling them."</em></p><p>She heard Dmitry sighed at her response, but said nothing. Rather, she saw him shifting a bit in his place on the couch before leaning against the couch and Yelena moved to lean her head against his shoulder as the two appeared to stare at the television.</p><p><em>"Do they deserve it, though?" </em>Yelena asked. <em>"Do they really deserve to know what happened to </em><b><em>him </em></b><em>when they barely helped </em><b><em>him</em></b><em>? Do they see deserve it when all they did is making </em><b><em>him</em></b><em> miserable? And after all the things they put </em><b><em>him</em></b><em> through? I don't think so, Dmitry."</em></p><p>The man sighed at her response and said nothing in response. He sagged against the sofa and just leaned against Yelena who snuggled closer despite their intense argument.</p><p>Alicia eventually turned to walk back in her guest room, her mind reeled at the information that she eavesdropped. So they do <b>know </b>what happened to Ali then? Why he's not in Cyberaya nor here? And most importantly, is he okay?</p><p>With these questions haunting her mind, Alicia knew that she wouldn't be able to get any sleep tonight. Their conversation echoed in her mind and she only had tomorrow to get any more information as she head to go back to Cyberaya (she didn't forget about school).</p><p>'I'll find him soon,' she though in determination before drifting into an uneasy sleep. <br/><b></b></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*abang - literally meaning 'older brother'. It's used in the family who has an older brother and also used for a young man who is older than you.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Back to Cyberaya</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alicia was admittedly disappointed when she came out empty. She was hoping that she'll get at least some kind of clue of Ali's whereabouts but there's nothing, to her disappointment. Now she wondered how is she going to explain to the general and chief pillars of her empty findings, all the while packing her bags.</p><p>Just then, she heard a knock and a call, "Alicia?" Immediately she knew it was Bakar. She went to the door and opened it.</p><p>"What?" Alicia asked the man who stood sheepishly in front of the guest room door. "Is there something you need?"</p><p>Bakar rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, which doesn't seem like a good sign. Alicia looked at Bakar warily.</p><p>"I, uhh," he paused for a moment, before admitting, "there are things that are still not settling here."</p><p>Alicia blinked for a moment. "What?"</p><p>He sighed. "I can't go back yet. Things aren't settling quickly as I hope it would be, so I had to ask if you're okay travelling with Yelena?"</p><p>Just by hearing her name gave Alicia shivers. Yelena, while incredibly beautiful, is completely different personality wise. She is sharp tongue and does not hesitate to voice out certain things, even though it may come out as an insult. Alicia was positive that if Yelena ever meets the chief pillars, agent Gaz especially, it will be a disaster.</p><p>"Just to the station in Cyberaya though," Bakar immediately clarified. "She's not going to accompany you all the way to your house if you get what I'm saying."</p><p>Alicia shook her head. "No, no, I understand," she said, "it's just that...um...well..."</p><p>"She intimidated you," Bakar finished her sentence.</p><p>Alicia opened her mouth to protest but couldn't think of a better argument, so she nodded instead.</p><p>"Don't worry, I understand," Bakar mused. "Even when I was a kid, she scared me. I'm an adult now but her presence is intimidating as ever. I honestly would send Dmitry instead but, eh, I think you know why the idea itself is not a good idea."</p><p>The girl nodded. For one, both had a great language barrier; Dmitry can barely speak English while Alicia definitely can't speak Russian. Also, it will give the general people the wrong idea between the two considering how massively different they are; Dmitry being an obvious foreigner with a Malaysian Chinese girl. Some will think bad thoughts about Dmitry and Alicia definitely didn't want anything to happen to him, or Yelena will kill her for sure. </p><p>"She asked what time you want to leave today, considering you have school tomorrow," Bakar continued as he eyed her packed bag. She was almost done with it. </p><p>"I don't know. Around 1 maybe?" </p><p>Bakar nodded his head. "Around 1 it is." He went to go downstairs when he stopped and turned back to Alicia. "Uhh, make sure you prepared to leave exactly around 1. Yelena, she...doesn't appreciate being later than the time you proposed. Punctuality is everything." At that, he motioned to the clock above before headed down. </p><p>Alicia turned to the clock and paled when it showed 12:30 pm. She scrambled back into the room and stuffed her clothes in the bag before zipping it. She brought the bag downstairs passed the kitchen, where she smelled the scent of fried fish with rice. Putting the bag near the bag, she went into the kitchen to see Yelena putting the plates on the table. </p><p>"You said you want to leave at one pm," she grunted. "We will leave a bit later. Lunch first. Cyberaya isn't near Pulau Rintis."</p><p>Couldn't bring herself to reply, Alicia merely nodded and quickly went to one of the seats, sitting still as Yelena put down a plate full of white rice before her. The aroma attacked her nose and Alicia realised how hungry she was. Soon, Tok Abah and Bakar joined the table before Yelena sat down. They expressed their gratitude to God before digging in. </p><p>"2 pm," Yelena spoke up and three heads turned to her. "I expect you to get ready at 2 pm. Don't be late."</p><p>Alicia merely nodded.</p><p>x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x</p><p>They were now on their way back to Cyberaya and Alicia couldn't help but feel awkward as she tried to keep her eyes out through the window with Yelena sitting next to her. Her fingers played with the straps of her bag as she watched the trees went by until they entered the city before the train stopped at the train station. </p><p>Yelena followed Alicia out of the station and she stood at the entrance. Alicia took a breath before she spoke up, "do you know where Ali is?"</p><p>"Hmm?" </p><p>"Ali. Do you know where he is? My friends and I were concerned because he suddenly disappeared..." Alicia trailed off when Yelena gave her a sharp glare. She gulped and looked away as her hand played with the strap of her bag while the other gripped the handle of the luggage. </p><p>"Are you really friends? Or do you just need him for your benefit?" the woman hissed, "because the last time I called Ali, he didn't have any friends aside from Victor. How can I know that you are actually his friend?"</p><p>Alicia was silent for the moment, not knowing what to say. The two of them were quiet with Yelena glaring at Alicia before she sighed as she combed her hair back with her hand. "You know what, whatever," she muttered before she turned to go back to the station, "let me know when you get home. Bakar may be a goofball but he's a worrier. Text him too." Her words were harsh and cold, so sharp that could slice the air. </p><p>A soft "okay" was the only response from the girl, though Yelena was long gone into the station. Just then, she heard a vibration in her pants pocket and took it out to reveal a text from Yelena. </p><p>
  <em>since you want to know so bad where he is, fine. Just go to his old house and ask the owner. He knows where he is. But don't come to me after that.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. The truth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alicia didn't return home. Not yet; not when she finally had a lead to Ali's whereabouts.</p><p>She made her way to Ali's old house, stood tall and proud with decorations, something that she was told the house had been lacking until he moved out and another family moved in. Leaving her baggage at the entrance, Alicia approached the door and went to press the doorbell. Her finger lingered for a moment over the button, biting her bottom lip as she clenched her fingers together for the moment before gently pressed the bell. The sound can be heard echoing from the outside as she stood nervously.</p><p>Heavy footsteps stomped towards the door and she heard the locks were turned before it opened to reveal Gul in shirt and track pants. He looked at her in confusion, "may I help you?"</p><p>"Um, sir," Alicia spoke up, "you may not remember me but it's me, Alicia. I came to this house before to ask for Dr Ghazali's contact, um, do you remember?"</p><p>The man looked at the girl in confusion. He thought for the moment before a look of recognition appeared on his face. Gul grinned. "Oh! You're that girl! How may I help you this time? Did you manage to contact Dr. Ghazali?"</p><p>The girl nodded, "I did, thank you. Though, I do need help on another thing, if you don't mind that is?"</p><p>Gul perked up at that. "It depends on what you need help with but sure, I'll try my best. What is it?"</p><p>The girl took a breath. "Do you by chance know who Ali Ghazali is?" Alicia asked, "he's the son of Dr. Ghazali. I thought he was with his father but apparently he's not and his aunt told me that he's here instead?"</p><p>Then, she saw it. His expression changed to a more solemn look and no answer came from him. Alicia was sure that she saw his grip on the door tightened a bit before Guz headed back inside for a moment and came out with a key in hand. He made his way out of the gate, motioning for Alicia to follow him, and the girl obeyed reluctantly, wondering where he's taking her. </p><p>"Prepare your tissues," was the only thing Guz said to Alicia as they walked past the mosque to the bricked fence. </p><p>Alicia stood a few steps away from the gate, where Guz turned the key in the keyhole and turned it a few times before the gate opened. He pushed it open and turned to Alicia. "Your answer lies here. Enter this gate and you will understand what I mean. I will look after your bags."</p><p>The girl gave him a skeptical look but said nothing as she brought only her phone. At the very least if he attempted anything to harm her, she got a phone to call the police. </p><p>To Alicia's shock, she find the other side of the gate to be the cemetery. Rows of tombs with large trees at some places, some tombs already have grasses and flowers grew. It can't be, she thought, it has to be the wrong place. Alicia expected many places but the cemetery is definitely not it.</p><p>"Is this actually the place?" Alicia asked Guz, still looked shock, "I don't think this is the place."</p><p>"This is the one," Guz answered, "go and look. You will understand what I mean."</p><p>"I don't think this is the place."</p><p>"You don't know that late. Go and look."</p><p>"I refuse to believe this is the place." Alicia knew that it became pointless the more she argued but she wanted to be sure it's somewhere else. It can't be here. It's NOT here. Ali doesn't like these kind of stuff. He doesn't like dead stuff. What does this have anything to do with Ali? Why is SHE here?</p><p>"I will ask you this one last time; go," Guz said, much firmer this time, "I promise you that you will find your answer here."</p><p>Alicia just stared at the man for a moment, opening her mouth to say something, but eventually closing it and decided to just go ahead. The fact that it's nearly night doesn't help ease her unease feelings. So far, as Alicia walked through it, there's nothing familiar to her aside from a few Malay names carved on the tombstone. At some point, she had to turn on the torch light on her phone to look at other tombs.</p><p>"What answer?" Alicia muttered to herself as she flashed the light on more of the carved names, "I see nothing." </p><p>Eventually, at some point, Alicia decided that it is getting nowhere and that she should head home. Maybe, she should just tell MATA that Ali is nowhere to be found. All the leads she had on him just led her to the dead end and Ali is not there. </p><p>"Maybe he moved out of the country," she assumed, and she's not wrong in that sense. Ali mentioned about wanting to leave Cyberaya and the fact that he has a relative living outside of Malaysia made her assumption plausible. It may not happen but it is possible. </p><p>As Alicia turned to make her way back to the entrance, a particular name caught her attention: <em>Aliya binti Baharom. </em></p><p>The name sounded familiar in Alicia's opinion and lightly scrunched her eyebrows together, trying to remember where she saw the name. But then she realised: Baharam is also Bakar's last name. Bakar is Ali's uncle. Wait, does that mean...?</p><p>The girl stumbled back in shock at the realization and her phone light caught another name. This name, carved deep into the white tomb stone in three words, the first with three letters. She felt her hand shook at the view, and Alicia felt her breath hitched. </p><p>The name, thick and bold, was the exact name of the person that she had been looking for so long. The same person who disappeared without further information from them before they can give a proper apology to his suffering. </p><p>Now, she knew that none of them can have the chance to do so. </p><p>There, lo and behold, the name of the missing MATA agent: <b><em>Ali bin Ghazali</em></b></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. The truth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The last thing Alicia remembered as running. Far, far away from the tomb. <em>The truth.</em></p><p>She ran out the open gate of the cemetery and leaned against the bricked walls. For a while, she attempted to take few deep breaths to calm her rapid-speed heart, but nothing lessened it. The shock, the pain, <em>the guilt.</em></p><p>"What are you going to do now?" a deep voice asked and Alicia jumped. She saw Gul standing by the gates, closing and locking it as he continued, "you know the truth now. It's up to you to decide on what to do with it."</p><p>I don't know what to do with it, Alicia responded in her head. Her hand shakily went to the text message and typed it out:</p><p>Me: je's derad...</p><p>
  <em>Yelena: what?</em>
</p><p>Me: he's dead...</p><p>
  <em>Yelena: ahh, so you know now</em>
</p><p>Alicia couldn't help but felt the need to throw her phone across the street. Why is Yelena, who is supposedly a <em>close </em>family member to Ali, sounded so nonchalant? Did she not understand what just happened? Does she?! The anger rushed through Alicia like waves and in lightning speed, she typed it out.</p><p>Me: WHY DO YOU SOUND SO NONCHALANT???</p><p>HE'S DEAD YOU KNOW!</p><p>WHY? DO YOU NOT GRIEVE?!</p><p>
  <em>Yelena: Do not speak to me in that tone young lady</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Also, what makes you think I don't grieve?</em>
</p><p>Me: YOU SOUNDED TOO NONCHALANT! NO FEELINGS!</p><p>
  <em>Yelena: I'm in the military you brat</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You think just because I don't show emotion</em>
</p><p>
  <em>then I don't have one?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dead wrong</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I've spent long years in war</em>
</p><p>
  <em>seeing my comrades and friends died before me</em>
</p><p>
  <em>three partners I have, three of them I've lost</em>
</p><p>
  <em>innocent civilians died in this damn war</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I still have nightmares of their screams</em>
</p><p>
  <em>every. freaking. night.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>and knowing my nephew died thinking that he's worthless is the last thing I've ever need in this damn life</em>
</p><p>
  <em>you know literally nothing</em>
</p><p>
  <em>about me, about him, about this whole family in general</em>
</p><p>
  <em>so I suggest you to shut your mouth and think for f sake</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Also, get off the phone</em>
</p><p>
  <em>not even a day and you pissed me off</em>
</p><p>Alicia was about reply when a hand took the phone away from her. "Hey!" she yelled, attempting to reach for it from Gul's hand, "give it back!"</p><p>"Calm down," Gul answered calmly, keeping the phone away from her, "you accusing her won't do anything. Do not forget that you're putting that tone with Ali's family member. I'd doubt she appreciate you yelling and accusing her of some stuff."</p><p>The girl was about to reply when Gul interrupted her, "girl, Alicia, is it? I need you to take a breath. If you need to cry, cry. Let it all out."</p><p>Alicia just stared at the man, finally realizing that her eyes were watering. She wiped the tears away but it kept on coming and before she knew it, the tears rolled off her cheek like rivers. A sob escaped her and before Alicia knew it, she burst into tears as she screamed into her palms to silence it.</p><p>So all along, all this time, he was dead. <em>Ali was dead. And she didn't even know. How? Why? </em>The questions continued to run around in her head, asking and wondering what happened. How did he die, <em>when did he die.</em></p><p>"Come," Gul soothed and he gently pushed Alicia away from the cemetery, "I'll take you home..."</p><p>The girl shook her head, however, while still kept her face buried in her hands. Gul sighed and knew that Alicia wanted answers before he decided to just take her to his home. His wife will be more than happy to look over Alicia for the meanwhile.</p><p>Alicia stumbled on her feet as she followed the man, tears still rolling down her cheeks. Gul stopped for a moment to give the girl a pack of tissues and muttered to keep it, as she grabbed a few tissues and blew them hard into it.</p><p>"Do...do you know what happened?" Alicia sniffed, "do you?"</p><p>There was a moment of silence from the man, who just stared ahead as he walked. After a while, he sighed through his nose and muttered, "I do," immediately, he raised his hand to stop Alicia from talking, "but I will not discuss this. Not now or ever."</p><p>He stopped and fully turned to the red faced girl, "I need you to just rest for tonight. No asking questions, no nothing. Just rest. You have a day ahead tomorrow."</p><p>"Please," she pleaded instead, "I need to know..."</p><p>However, Gul turned away and continued walking. Alicia sniffed a bit but followed. It took a while for her to realize that Gul was pulling her bags. "May I know your address? I doubt your guardian will be happy knowing that you stay out so late," Gul asked. </p><p>Alicia didn't reply. Rather, she took out her phone and just typed down the address before she gave it to Gul, who took it. He looked at the address and typed it down on his phone, probably on a map to lead him to her house, before unlocking his car. The girl silently entered the backseat as he began driving her back. </p><p>"Alicia," Gul called out, "I know you want to know the truth, and I'm willing to tell you when you're on the right mind, but you're not right now."</p><p>He waited for Alicia to respond and took a glance at the rear mirror to see her nodded. "Okay, good. Just get a good rest tonight, and focus on yourself. I'll tell when you're ready. Can you do that?"</p><p>Another nod. </p><p>Before long, Gul stopped his car in front of a house and asked Alicia if this is her house. She looked out to see the familiar place she called home and muttered, "yeah..."</p><p>Gul pulled his hand brake up and went out to grab her luggage, giving it to Alicia who took it while muttering a small 'thank you.' He just gave a small 'okay' sign before he drove away. </p><p>Alicia just stood in front of her house, wondering on how she's going to break the news to MATA about Ali's status. Immediately, she shook her head and remembered Gul's words to look after herself first. </p><p>But she knew that she'll have to discover the truth. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. What happened</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alicia struggled to keep her emotional mess at bay. She couldn't bring herself to tell the general, her father, of the information she knew so far because she needed to know what happened to Ali. Deep inside, she feared that he done this to himself before she shook the thought off; she needed to keep her thoughts clear until Gul confirmed what happened. </p><p>He knew what happened. And she was sure of it. </p><p>The general did asked her if there's any updates to her 'detective' work on Ali's whereabouts, and Alicia was surprised to see herself lying smoothly to him. Alicia felt bad but until she knew what really happened to Ali, she can't update because she knew it would give a false hope. </p><p>Next day arrived and Alicia returned to school. She approached Victor and greeted him, "hi."</p><p>He looked surprised by the greeting, but nonetheless responded, 'hi'. Alicia held the urge to ask him if he knows about Ali's status, but Victor spoke up first, "did you find him?" </p><p>The question surprised Alicia, "I thought you keep contact with him?"</p><p>Victor shrugged at his seat, his eyes still glued to the game he has on his tablet, "he didn't reply to my messages since Dr. Ghazali took him out of the school. I'm assuming he changed his phone number."</p><p>A pang of guilt hit her, "I see...well, I didn't find him. So I...think he's somewhere else."</p><p>He raised his eyes away from his tablet.  "Did you get his number at least?"</p><p>No answer and Victor huffed before he turned back to his game, "wow, what a waste of time. I gave you the address and you didn't even get to see him."</p><p>The nonchalant tone in Victor's statement made Alicia's blood boiled, but reminded herself that Victor doesn't know. He doesn't about Ali's status. He <em>doesn't know </em>that his best friend died. Victor would have most likely thought that Ali was somewhere in the country, changing his phone number to 'start anew'. </p><p>But Alicia doesn't have the heart to tell him that his best friend is not in the country, nor the world. He's dead. </p><p>Day went by quickly and Alicia immediately found herself leaving the school quickly, ignoring the voices calling for her to join 'stamp' club for training. To her, training doesn't matter for now, no. Not when she still haven't figured out the truth behind his mysterious death. She needs closure to this hanging feeling.</p><p>It took a while for Alicia to arrive at Gul's house. <em>Ali's </em>former house. With a deep breath, she made her way to the entrance and rang a doorbell. She heard faint footsteps heading to the doorway before it opened.</p><p>It was a woman instead. </p><p>She gave Alicia a tight smile as she asked, "Alicia, is it?" The girl gave her a nod and the woman opened the door wide, "come in, come in. Gul is in the kitchen. Just go straight to the left."</p><p>Alicia followed the direction to the kitchen to see Gul already sitting on one of the stools at the dining table. The man gave her a gentle smile, "Alicia! Welcome! Come sit. My wife had prepared a drink for you." The girl reluctantly sat on the stool and took a sip because she knew that she's going to need it.</p><p>"Okay, I'll cut to the chase because I don't want to keep you here long," Gul said and he took out his phone, typing something in before turning to show the screen to Alicia. The girl nearly choked on her drink; it was the same car crash that she witnessed a few weeks ago and Gul took notice of this, "I see you knew about this incident?"</p><p>"It happened at my school..." Alicia muttered, still looking wide-eyed at the news. With her shaky finger, she scrolled down the article to see it recapping the incident with eyewitnesses, but there's one part that caught her eye.</p><p>
  <em>Eyewitnesses confirmed that the victim (12) was standing at the telephone pole to contact his father when the speeding (brand name)  car driven by .... (25) rammed into that pole. The victim was reported to have died immediately on scene after sustaining critical injuries on the head and ribs while ... was immediately taken Cyberjaya Hospital for treatment....</em>
</p><p>"The victim..." Alicia whispered and she looked up to Gul with teary eyes, "that victim was Ali, isn't it?"</p><p>The man said nothing to it, rather he just gave a slow nod. Alicia slouched a bit in her sit as she felt tears piled up in her eyes before it rolled down her cheeks. She witnessed that crash, and <em>he </em>was right there. He was so near her! And how did she not notice him! If only she was considerate enough to find him soon. If only...</p><p>"You're thinking 'what ifs'," Gul commented, "don't. Because Alicia, thinking what ifs will only nail you to the past when nothing could've been done. The best you can do now is to grieve. I don't claim to understand your pain considering that I'm an outsider of your friendship, but I can only say that your friend wouldn't like it if you dwell in the past."</p><p>The girl made no comment to that. Rather, she just stared at the article blankly, and made no move to wipe away her tears as it dripped down to her uniform.  Gul stood up and went to grab a box of tissues, handing it to the motionless girl. Alicia took one and blew. </p><p>"So," Gul said after a while, "what are you going to do now?"</p><p>"They need to know..." she muttered and the man look confused, "who needs to know?"</p><p>"Ah, nothing," the girl replied as she stood up from her place. She went to the entrance of the house and bowed a bit to him, "thank you for your time and I'm sorry if I stayed here longer than usual..."</p><p>Gul waved it off, "I don't mind. I wish you a good recovery from this." He knew that it's not really a good response to the situation at hand, but in his defense, he doesn't really now the girl aside from being a grieving friend. </p><p>Alicia gave him a tight smile before she left and heard the man closing the door. As she made her way back, she knew who to turn to direct the news: agent Karya. </p>
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<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
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    <p>Finding agent Karya is not much of a problem, considering the fact that he's disguising as one of her school teachers in the school. The main problem, however, lies in how Alicia is going to break the news of Ali's death to him. She knew that he, like other agents and mentors in MATA, thought that Ali was most likely alive and well with the assumption that he ran away somewhere. It made Alicia a bit pissed considering how insensitive the assumption sounded, now that she knew what actually happened to him but on the same time, they don't know about his status.</p><p>Her chance came when agent Karya, disguising as cikgu Bidin, entered her class and told the class teacher that he needed Alicia to come with him for the moment. Her homeroom, Puan Munah, huffed and merely said, "don' take too long." A disguised agent Karya merely motioned Alicia to join and she did as Puan Munah returned to her lessons after she left the classroom. </p><p>Agent Karya led Alicia to his office and have her sit on the chair before his desk, just as he sat on his. Putting his chin on his joined fingers, agent Karya went straight to the point, "Alicia, the mission has gone long enough," he said as he shifted a bit in his place, "everyone are restless and they need at least some update to your investigation."</p><p>Alicia was quiet for a moment, deep in thought. She thought about lying for a moment because she found herself comfortable relaying her results to the general, but on the same time, Alicia knew she had to get it out now. Agent Karya himself appeared to be restless at this. </p><p>"I've...found him," she admitted quietly, "I found Ali."</p><p>A trace of hope can be read on his eyes and the hopeful look made Alicia's heart cracked a bit; the hope will be gone in an instant the moment she unveiled the truth. "You found him? Alicia, those are great news! But..." he trailed off for a moment, "you don't look as happy. Why?"</p><p>"Uh...agent Karya..." Alicia reluctantly began, "I did found Ali, but not in a way that I anticipate."</p><p>The disguised INVISO mentor slumped against his seat, "I see...may I know what he's like when you discovered him?"</p><p>At that moment, Alicia felt tears swelling up in her eyes, "ah..." was her only response as she frantically attempted to wipe it away, "I'm sorry, sir, I..." more tears began to leak and she gave up. Instead, she reached out for a tissue box, to which agent Karya thankfully pushed the box to to her, and took one before she blew into it. </p><p>The wound was still too fresh.</p><p>"Dead," was the only thing she said as she continued to sob, grabbing more tissues as she does so. </p><p>A single word made agent Karya froze. "I, um, I'm sorry? Can you repeat that? I don't think I heard it clearly." It was a lie. He did, in fact, heard her answer clearly but he refused to believe that because Ali, as reckless as he is, does not die easily. That can't be a fact. </p><p>"He's dead," Alicia repeated, much harder this time, "please...I don't want to repeat it.."</p><p>Agent Karya slumped against the chair and with his breath hitched, he asked, "how...can you be so sure...?"</p><p>Alicia doesn't know why but the questioning tone made her snap, "I was there okay! I saw his tomb, with his name engraved deep on it," at that point, Alicia stood up from her seat with tears rolling down her cheek, "you think I believed that at first? I didn't and I accused Gul of lying because I believed he was lying!"</p><p>From that point, Alicia didn't care if agent Karya knows Gul or not, but what she knew was that the moment she started ranting, she couldn't stop it, "but then his own family member just confirmed his death...what more can I really do than accept it?"</p><p>Agent Karya looked at her, speechless. He didn't really know how to respond to her outburst, or perhaps the newfound information. The agent opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out and in the end, he said nothing. Alicia, who waited for the man to respond, sat back down on the chair with a huff, her eyes now swollen a bit from crying. </p><p>After some time, the man began to speak, "I...don't know what to say..."</p><p>"I don't expect you to," Alicia muttered with her arms crossed. Then, she stood up and headed for the door, causing the man to look at her in alarm.</p><p>"Where are you going?" he asked, "Alicia, you have training after this!"</p><p>Alicia whirled to glare at the INVISO agent, causing him to flinch a bit at the harshness of it, "you will NOT force me to train, no. And you can't make me!" With that, she turned and stomped out of his office. The sound caused some of the teachers to leave their cubicle in the big office to look at the source of it. In that moment, Alicia didn't care that she was being rude to the man; how dare he ask her to train after she relayed the news of Ali's death? </p><p>Was his life that insignificant? </p><p>Suddenly, Alicia stopped. The question made her remembered Yelena's text: <em>and knowing my nephew died thinking that he's worthless is the last thing I've ever need in this damn life.</em> </p><p>Ali, she realized, thought he was worthless. He died thinking that he's worthless, meaning that he already had these thoughts before the sudden crash that killed him. The thought lead her to other questions: when does he feel worthless? Why does he feel like he's worthless? Alicia didn't find the questions to make sense but Yelena's message showed otherwise. She didn't know what to make of these new questions that popped up in her head, but there was something else that she needed to know. </p><p>And who else that she can contact to other than Yelena, Ali's aunt herself? <b></b></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>January 17th is my 20th birthday (the scary beginning to adulthood *shudders*), so as a 'celebration', I decided to post this. It's special because I have no intention on writing and publishing this chapter today but I thought, 'why not?' hahahahaha. Hope you enjoy the feels!</p>
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